


All For David

by Faith280



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Deals lightly with child abuse, M/M, Mention of attempted rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-12 00:03:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18434888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faith280/pseuds/Faith280
Summary: Tucker and Wash have worked so hard over the years to create a happy home life for their two young kids.Then the phone call comes, their son’s birth mother wants him back. After losing one of their children, how could their hearts handle to lose another?





	1. 1

 

“Wash, what do you think of this color blue for the party streamers?”

Donut was going all out for little David’s birthday party. He had already bored Tucker away with his decorating plans, now he was working on Wash.

  
Wash looked thoroughly confused. “I don’t see any difference between these two colors. Blue is blue, just pick one.”

  
Donut scoffed at his ignorance. “Anyone can obviously see this is royal blue compared to navy blue, there’s a big difference.”

  
Tucker came in the room. “Oh my god, are you still whining over those streamers? If you don’t shut up about it, I’ll strangle you with the damn things. You still have a month until David’s party.”

  
“We have to start early on these things. You don’t want your son’s birthday to be tacky.”

  
Tucker rolled his eyes. “He’s gonna be three, all he cares about is getting a chocolate birthday cake with dinosaurs on it.”

  
“Yeah Donut, let’s keep this simple.” Wash frowned at him.

  
Donut made a face before gathering up his decorating supplies. “Fine, you don’t want my help, you got it. I’ll go talk to Chloe about the decorating. She’s the only one in the family with any sense of style.”

  
Tucker laughed over it. “Good riddance.”

  
“I didn’t want to say anything while he was still here, but how do we handle David’s birthday party? It falls on Thanksgiving this year.”

  
“So? Have it on Thanksgiving.”

  
“Isn’t that a bit much? Maybe we should plan it for the Saturday after.”

  
“Yeah… no, that won’t work. Junior has two days off and he wanted to join us for the holiday. He misses not seeing his brother and sister much.”

  
“Okay then, we have a small family party on the holiday and his full birthday party on Saturday.”

  
“Cool, he’ll love having two birthdays.”

  
“I have to check with Simmons first. We were going to have Thanksgiving with him and Grif. We need to make sure Junior is welcome and he doesn’t mind having a birthday cake.”

  
“Guaranteed Grif won’t mind, he’d do anything for cake. Anyway, Simmons is a cool nerd, he won’t care.”

  
“Simmons won’t care about what?”

  
Simmons came up behind them and startled both Wash and Tucker. He was sneaky.

  
“Oh, just that Junior will be joining us for Thanksgiving and we’re doing a mini birthday party for David.” Tucker went right to the point.

  
Simmons thought, then shrugged. “Why would I care about that? I just can’t believe David is going to be three. He’s the baby of the group. All the kids are growing up.”

  
Wash shook his head. “Tell me about it. That’s one reason I volunteered to start back to work. I actually kind of missed the military life.”

  
Simmons was deep in thought. “It seems like you’ve been out of active duty for a while.”

  
“Yes, since David was born. With raising a little baby, it made more sense to retire. Now that he and Chloe are older, I may as well come back part time.”

  
Tucker was excited. “Yes, I finally get to partner with my honey again. Work is going to be fun.”

  
Wash shot him a frown. “Don’t count on that. I’m still a high ranking officer. You can’t give me the attitude at work like you can at home.”

  
Tucker thought about it, before giving an exaggerated salute. “Yes sir.”

  
Wash had to laugh at him. “At ease moron.”

  
Tucker gave an evil grin. “And you thought training soldiers and raising two kids was hard work. I can be worse than all of them.”

  
Simmons shook his head. “No, I have you beat, Grif is still worse, the worst ever.”

  
Wash smiled. “You have my condolences. I’m going go to pick up the kids. Tucker, I’ll have dinner started by the time you’re done at work. Anything in particular you want?”

  
“Nah, you can surprise me.”

 

Wash drove over to the daycare center to pick up David. When he first enrolled him, he was afraid he would be homesick.

David’s first day in, he handled being separated from Wash and made friends with the other little kids.

  
Wash didn’t have to feel guilty leaving him for work, and David was getting plenty of practice when he was old enough for school. It worked for both of them.

  
Wash went in the classroom to see if David was ready. He gave his dad a big smile and ran over. “Hi Daddy. I got to build houses with blocks and I drew you some pictures.”

  
He proudly held up the scribbled pieces of construction paper.

“Well, I see you had fun today.”

  
He happily nodded. “Yep.”

  
“Get your stuff together, we got to pick up your sister at school.”

  
Chloe was in first grade, and was already getting embarrassed to be seen with her father and little brother. That worried Wash, he wanted that sweet little girl back that she used to be.

  
The entire ride home, David never shut up once. He kept rambling over and over about his day at school. Wash learned to tune him out. David was never quiet, he even talked in his sleep. Chloe was getting aggravated with him. It was worse when they got home.

  
“Chloe, I’m going to starting dinner. Can you keep an eye on David once in a while?”

  
She huffed sarcastically. “Sure, I’ll watch him.”

  
Wash cut up some vegetables for the stir fry he was making. He peeked in the oven at the chicken, it was browning nicely. He was never the best cook, but he was proud of what cooking he had learned. At least he could get the kids to eat their vegetables.

  
He heard Chloe yell. “David, stop it, you’re so annoying.”

  
He screamed back. “But I wanna play too!”

  
“You’re a boy, you’re not supposed to play with dolls. Give them back.”

  
Wash was on the case. He heard a thud and then David crying. He was holding his arm.

Wash looked closer. “Chloe, what did you do to him?”

  
She had an exasperated look on her face. “Nothing, he took my good dolls and was trying to ruin them. I pushed him away and he pretended to hit his arm on the wall.”

  
David was crying even louder and wanted Wash to pick him up. He checked over David’s arm, it looked fine.

“Did she really push you, or did you do it to yourself?”

  
“She pushed me.”

  
“Daddy, I wanted to push him, but I didn’t.”

  
He believed Chloe, she had issues tolerating David, but she was never mean to him.

  
“Chloe, can be play with you?”

  
“No way, he’ll ruin all my stuff. All he has to do is cry and you and Dad give in to him. He’s such a brat, he gets away with everything.”

  
She had tears in her eyes. She didn’t mean it, but she was too upset to care.

  
Wash got quiet. “David, come out to the kitchen with me and let Chloe play in peace.”

  
David happily went to the kitchen, his hurt arm was suddenly forgotten.

“Chloe, give him a break, he’s still little. Give him some time to grow up.” He closed the door to her bedroom and went to join his son.

  
This parenting stuff was so much easier when they were little. Where was he going wrong?  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

 

Wash looked up at the clock. Tucker was usually home by five, but now it’s almost six o’clock. The chicken was drying out in the oven and David got tired of his crayons and was fussy.

  
Wash slammed the oven shut. Tucker should at least have the courtesy to call if he was running late.

  
David looked worried, he hated when Wash was upset.

  
“Daddy, are you still mad at me?”

  
Wash softened his eyes and patted him reassuringly on his shoulder. “No honey, I was never mad at you in the first place. Your Dad is running late and he should have called.”

  
Chloe came out to the kitchen. “Where’s Dad?” She sat at the table to color with David. Her bad mood from earlier was temporarily forgotten.

  
“I don’t know, but he’s going to get it.”

  
Ten minutes later, Tucker wearily came through the door. He threw his aqua helmet and gun bag on the floor and flopped down on the couch.

  
“Man, are you lucky you left early.”

  
Wash was still ticked with him. “Why is that? And you know that your helmet and bag does not go there.” He glared lightly at him, Tucker didn’t even notice.

  
“Yeah yeah, in a minute. We had rumors flying around that some Major was planning a surprise inspection. Kimball had us cleaning everything. There’s no part of my body that isn’t sore.”

  
Wash’s glare deepened. “Well if you slackers had kept up on your cleaning, you wouldn’t need to panic. It’s common sense, Kimball shouldn’t have to tell you.”

  
Tucker made a face. “Babe chill out, we’re at home, not on the base.” He got up to give Wash a kiss. Wash dodged away before he could.

  
“Get your stuff upstairs where it belongs. And next time this happens, call first, so I don’t worry.”

  
“Aww, I didn’t mean to worry you.” He turned to the kids who were silently listening. “Hey guys.” He gave each of them a kiss.

  
David looked upset. “Hi Daddy.”

  
Chloe was quiet. “You in trouble again Dad?”

  
“Of course sweetie, what else is new.”

  
Wash felt bad, he didn’t mean to upset his whole family. He set the plates and silverware on the table. He was determined to have a nice family meal.

  
Tucker came to the table. They had their chicken and rice stir fry and he tried to make conversation. “Well guys, what all happened today?”

  
Chloe shrugged. “Same old stuff. I played with Dex at recess, had an argument with David. Same as usual.”

  
“Why’d you fight with David?”

  
“Because he bugs me.”

  
David got into the conversation. “She called me a brat.” He said it like it was a good thing. He had a big smile on his face.

  
Tucker tried not to laugh. “You sound like you’re proud of that.”

  
He thought about it. “Yeah, I really like Chloe and she’s paying attention to me.”

  
Chloe looked embarrassed. “I don’t have to feel guilty for calling him names do I?”

  
Wash tried to help. “You see, be patient with him. He’ll grow out of this hyper stage as he gets older.”

  
David was thinking things over. “Am I brat?”

  
Tucker was quick to answer. “No, you’re spoiled, but not a brat.”

  
“What’s the difference?”

  
Wash figured it out. “Spoiled means you’re loved very much. Me and your Dad, and even Chloe if she would admit it, love you a lot.”

  
David looked happy. “Okay, I like that.”

  
After the dinner dishes were put away, Tucker tried to suggest something fun the four of them could do together. “How about we watch an old Disney movie together before bed?”

  
The movie supply on Chorus was pretty limited. Chloe wanted princesses, but David didn’t. To keep him quiet, they watched Robin Hood.

  
He was passed out before the movie was over, and Chloe was getting there.

  
Wash and Tucker tucked the kids in bed, before settling down themselves.

  
Tucker had to ask. “You’re not mad at me anymore?”

  
Wash chuckled. “The argument was so stupid, I’d forgotten about it already.”

  
They curled up in each other’s arms. As soon as they got comfortable, David’s ear piercing scream broke the silence. “Daddy!”

  
Wash went running to him. He turned on the light. “What’s wrong honey?”

  
“I had a bad dream.” He was crying and shaking.

  
Wash sat at the edge of his bed and held him close. “Shh honey, you’re okay.” He held him close until his crying calmed down. “What was the dream about?”

  
“These big scary men came and took me away. I don’t wanna leave you.”

  
“No, no one is taking away. You’re our little boy, you’re where you belong.”

  
“The dream was so real.” He couldn’t stop crying.

  
“Trust me, I know all about bad dreams. They seem real, but there’s nothing to be scared of. I’m here to protect you. I used to be a Freelancer, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  
“Will you stay with me?”

  
“Sure, I won’t leave until you fall asleep.”

  
David trusted his Dad, and reluctantly closed his eyes. Soon he was fast asleep. Wash eventually left. He checked on Chloe when he went past her room.

  
“Is David okay?”

  
“He’s fine, only a nightmare.”

  
She shuddered. “I hated having nightmares because of my Mom.”

  
“You better get to sleep, you have school in the morning.”

  
Tucker looked up. “Is he alright?”

  
“Sure, it was another nightmare.”

  
“Poor kid, he’s had one every night this week. I feel bad for him.” Wash slid under the covers. “Where were we?” He moved in closer to Wash.

  
“No Tucker, the mood is gone. Let’s go to bed.” When he turned off the light, he saw the answering machine on the night stand was blinking. He didn’t remember the phone ringing at all tonight.

  
It was Kimball’s voice, she didn’t sound happy. “Uh Wash,I need to talk to you in the morning. I came across these papers dealing with your little boy’s adoption. I don’t know what this means, but it has something to do about his birth mother. I’ll see you and Tucker.”

  
The click of the machine made him feel like his heart stopped beating. He looked over at Tucker. His eyes looked terrified.

  
He tried to pass it off as nothing. “You know how this goes, it’s gonna be something stupid. David is ours, what’s the worst that could happen?”

  
He buried under the blankets and stayed close to Wash. It was if he needed reassurance that he was right.

  
All the bad memories from three years ago came flooding back, when his own baby Lucas died. He couldn’t lose David, he just couldn’t.


	3. Chapter 3

 

  
It was three in the morning. Wash jumped awake, he thought he heard a noise in David’s room. He approached the room with caution, he had a bad feeling.

  
He looked in the bed, David wasn’t there. The panic overwhelmed him. It looked like the window was broken. Oh my god, someone took him.

  
He yelled. “David! David where are you? Tucker help!”

  
The next thing he saw was arms reaching out to him and Tucker’s voice. “Wash calm down. You’re dreaming babe, wake up.”

  
Wash blinked a few times. He was in his bed, with his husband leaning over him looking all concerned. It was a dream, but it was so real. He dropped his head back on the pillow and struggled not to cry, his heart was pounding a mile a minute.

  
“What were you dreaming about?”

  
“A noise woke me up, I went to check David and he was gone.”

There was a distant rumble of thunder.

  
“See babe, that’s all it was, only thunder. Everyone’s fine.”

  
Wash couldn’t rest. “I have to check on him anyway, he hates thunderstorms.”

  
He quietly peeked in David’s room. He was curled up under his dinosaur bedspread, sleeping like an angel. Wash gave a sigh of relief and attempted to go back to bed. He didn’t make it that far.

The next crack of thunder was much closer, David was awake.  
“Daddy! I don’t like the thunder!”

  
Wash went back in. “It’s Okay baby, I’m here.” He sat on the bed and held him in his arms. He was still spooked by the nightmare. He was there to comfort David, when he was the one who needed it more.

  
As the storm got closer, David cried harder. He picked him up and walked him to the living room.

He grabbed an afghan and settled with him on the couch. Tucker came out to join them.  
He sat beside Wash and held David’s hand. He felt safer with both his Dads beside him.

Gradually, he fell asleep.  
Tucker was next to pass out. He was leaning against Wash. There no way he’d be able to move, so the three stayed there the rest of the night.

 

The next morning, Wash was grumpy. He barely had any sleep, after that nightmare, he willed himself to stay awake. After dropping the kids at school, he had to meet with Kimball. That scared him more than anything.

  
“David, eat your breakfast, you can’t go to daycare until you do. Chloe, don’t worry about your hair, it looks fine. We’re running late guys.”

  
Chloe rolled her eyes and grabbed some toast. “So, Dad’s not even ready yet, so why are you yelling at me?”

  
“I’m yelling at all of you. Tucker, you’re worse than the kids. Hurry up.”

  
“Okaay, I’m coming, jeez. You’re so crabby.”

  
“It’s because you guys won’t listen. Don’t forget, we have that meeting with Kimball.”

  
Tucker looked scared. “God, don’t remind me.”

  
He looked over at David. He was happily throwing cereal at his sister and laughing about it. He was such an innocent little kid, it wasn’t fair if he had to be sent away. Tucker didn’t know if Wash and David could even be separated like that.

  
Wash got his family rounded up. The first stop was the elementary school for Chloe. She was half afraid to talk to Wash, she knew something was wrong.

  
He gave her a hug. “Have a good day honey.” He seemed okay, so she hugged him back.

  
At the daycare, it was harder to say goodbye. David was worried that Wash was in a bad mood. He reached up to give him a big hug. “Bye Daddy, I love you.”

  
Wash’s bad mood melted. “I love you too honey.” Tucker joined in their hug. This was what Wash needed to feel better. He needed his family. The closer they got to Kimball’s office, the more his heart raced.

  
They were admitted in immediately. Kimball sat behind her desk, looking more intimidating in her official looking black pantsuit than she did in her blue and tan armor.

Her long light brown hair was pulled back severely, she wore very little makeup, and her bright hazel eyes studied the stack of papers in front of her.

  
She looked up and smiled when when Wash and Tucker came in. Her smile was warm and genuine. “Hi fellows, thanks for coming down here. It’s good to see you. I only wish it was under better circumstances.”

  
Wash was too scared to even talk. “Yes, What was going on about David’s adoption papers?”

  
“Do you know a Megan Jeffers? At the time of the adoption, she was Megan Shaffer. She’s David’s birth mother.”

  
Wash shook his head. “I know the name, but we’ve never met.”

  
“Well, it’s a long story, but basically she was underage when she gave birth. She put David up for adoption without her parent’s consent. According to Chorus’ law on adoptions that’s not exactly legal.”

  
Tucker frowned. “She’s the one who gave birth, she’s the one who signed the adoption papers. That makes David our son.” He was getting pissed.

  
Wash put a hand on his arm to calm him down. “Tucker is right, she couldn’t take care of the baby and we could. She was the one who wanted the adoption.”

  
“Her parents hired a team of lawyers to find David. They want to bring him home. Megan married the baby’s father, and supposedly they can take care of him now.”

  
“Bullshit, we had him for almost three years, she can’t take him away, I won’t let her.”

  
Kimball had to be firm. “Calm down Tucker. I’m on your side 100%, I’ll do everything possible. What counts is what is best for the child. I know that is with you and Wash.”

  
This couldn’t be happening. “We’re all he knows, it wouldn’t be fair to him to take him away.” Wash’s heart was breaking. “It wouldn’t be fair to me; to us.”

  
Kimball sighed and tried to look supportive. “Listen to me Wash, we don’t know for sure he will be taken away. We will definitely fight this. So for now, go home and try not to worry.”

  
Tucker shook his head. “There’s no chance of that happening.” He was in the verge of tears.

  
“I will be talking to the lawyers later, I’ll have more information to go on. I’ll give you a call later.”

  
Wash nodded, he was numb with fear. “Sure, Thanks Vanessa.”

  
Tucker put his arm around him to help support him as the walked through the parking lot. He hadn’t seen Wash this bad in a while.

  
He tried to smile. “You know babe, when this whole stupid thing blows over, we’ll have a funny story to share with the kids.”

  
Wash couldn’t smile back, he felt so dead inside. His worst nightmare was coming true.  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

 

Later at work, Tucker wasn’t in the mood for anything. After getting his gear out of his locker, he slammed it shut as hard as he could. That wasn’t good enough. He kept pounding it with his fists until it was dented.

  
A familiar orange form came up behind him. “Whoah dude, are trying to kill it?” Grif was trying to be funny, but he was worried about Tucker.

  
Tucker turned to face him, Grif was shocked, he never seen Tucker look this bad. “Cool it, I ain’t in the mood.”

  
“What happened man? Was it something over David?”

  
“How do you know about it?”

  
“Wash said something to Simmons this morning, and he tells everything. He also told me to keep quiet about it, but you know how well I listen to that nerd. Are you going to lose your kid?”

  
Tucker dropped on the bench, covered his face in his hands, and tried not to cry. “I don’t know…maybe.”

  
It was awkward for Grif, he didn’t do well with trying to console people. Even with his own husband, he was stiff.

“Wow, that sucks. I’m glad our kids are our own. I don’t know how I would get over that.”

  
He thought about his own three kids. They drove him crazy most of the time, but if anyone tried to take them away, he’d kill them.

  
Tucker wiped the tears from his eyes. “Way to help me. You make a terrible therapist dude.” He stood up, and tried to recover.

  
“I know what might really help. Let’s go into gym. You punch away at the punching bag and pretend it’s those deadbeat parents’ heads.”

  
That got a smile out of Tucker. “Yep, that might do it.”

 

Wash’s day wasn’t going much better. He felt too numb to even yell at the troops. He had to force it.

“Lieutenant Palomo, What the hell do you call that? I swear you have the worst aim ever, of all time. You’d think you’d be able to hit the target by now.”

  
Palomo looked stressed out. “I’m sorry sir. There were adjustments made on my armor, it’s throwing me off.”

  
“I do not accept excuses. Hit the target for me, just once for god’s sake!”

  
Palomo’s next shot was shaky and missed the target all together. He had grown a lot since first joining the war for Chorus. He was comparable to Tucker when he first started.

  
Wash was hard on Tucker to turn him into a great solider. He knew that’s all this kid needed. Palomo could do great work one day, and forget how to shoot a rifle the next. He was still too unpredictable.

  
Palomo hung his head. He hated when Wash yelled at him. With Tucker, he was used to it. He had yelled at him constantly since Palomo was the only survivor of Tucker’s Green Team.

  
“Fine Palomo, call it a day and go home. You are a constant disappointment.”

  
Simmons watched from a distance. He retired from all the training and combat and worked behind the scenes as the IT manager. Sometimes he missed it. Days like today, he was glad to not have the drama.

  
He and his lieutenant, Katie Jensen, were taking a break from a particularly hard coding assignment. She watched her boyfriend Palomo, as he was being screamed at.

  
Palomo jerked off his teal and tan helmet, and nervously shook out his dark blond hair. Jensen looked over at Simmons.

  
“Permission for me to leave and see if he’s alright, sir?”

  
He nodded. “Sure, go ahead. I think I need to talk to Wash.”

  
She ran to catch up with Palomo and they walked arm in arm back to the locker rooms. Simmons cautiously approached Wash.

  
He tore off his grey and yellow helmet and nervously ran his fingers through his buzzed short blond hair. His blue eyes were bloodshot from crying and lack of sleep.

  
Simmons put his hand on his shoulder. “Wash, Calm down. You’re going to make yourself sick.”

  
“I shouldn’t have been so rough on that kid.”

  
“Yeah, but he’ll get over it. He’s used to getting yelled at all the time. He still has Tucker’s personality, I don’t think he’ll ever grow out of it.”

  
“Sorry to interrupt your computer work there.”

  
“You didn’t, I needed a break.” He had an idea how to help Wash. “I know what would could do. Let’s look up some information on line about adoptions. At least you’ll have an idea of how seriously to take David’s case.”

  
Wash thought about it. “Well, no I shouldn’t…maybe it will help. What can you find out?”

  
“Let’s find out.” Simmons and Wash stepped into the computer lab. Simmons did some typing and follow the links. Articles dealing with adoptions came up, Simmons felt hopeful.

  
But article after article kept siding with the birth parents. Wash got more scared with every page he read. Finally, he had enough.

“Turn it off, I’ve seen enough.”

  
“I can’t believe it. I know Chorus hasn’t been a recognized territory that long, but you’d think the child service would come farther than that on adoptions. I’m sorry Wash.”

  
He paced around the office. “I know, you tried. I may just have to accept it.”

  
“The courts would side with whoever is the best choice for your son. That’s obviously you and Tucker. And you have Kimball on your side. That girl gave David up, he is your son.”

  
“Thanks Simmons, I hope you’re right. All I can do is worry until I hear from Kimball. I may as well call it a day. It’s no use trying to work when I’m like this.”

  
“Go home and take a nap, even if just half an hour, you’ll feel a lot better.”

  
Wash doubted that, the nightmares always came whenever he shut his eyes. When they were about his own baby, it made them harder to control.

  
He made it home to catch the telephone ringing. He answered right before the machine picked it up. His heart dropped when he saw it was Kimball.

  
“Wash, we have an issue. Could you come down to my office, and bring David with you?”

  
No, he wouldn’t give up his baby. “I guess so, what about Tucker?”

  
“Given his anger management issues, I think it’s better that he stays home for this one.”

  
Wash never sounded so scared. “Vanessa, What is going on?”

  
Her voice sounded a little choked up. “I’d rather not tell you over the phone. Please, come down to my office. It’s easier this way.”

  
“Okay, we’ll be down soon.”

  
As he hung up the phone, he felt like his heart stopped beating. His family was his life, how could he give one of them up?  



	5. Chapter 5

  
  
Wash held David’s little hand as they stepped into Kimball’s office. He never wanted to let him go. Kimball looked up as they arrived and smiled at the happy little child.

  
“Hi!” He went right over to Kimball to see her. He was never shy, he loved everyone.

  
“Hi David. We have a surprise for you here in the building.”

  
He smiled. “What is it?”

  
“A new friend for you to meet. Her name is Megan, she’s a very nice lady and she wants to meet you.”

  
“Kay, I’ll meet her.”

  
“Good boy.”

  
Wash gave a look of distress to Kimball. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  
“Yes, she only wants to meet you and to see David. She sounds genuine that she cares about him.”

  
“Vanessa, I don’t like this…”

  
“I don’t either, but you have to go through it. Nothing is definite yet. I’ll bring her in.”

  
David came over to sit on Wash’s lap. His instincts were to grab his son and run away. The door opened and Kimball escorted a young woman through the door. She gasped and smiled when she saw David.

  
“Agent Washington, this Megan Jeffers. And this is little David.”

  
David got a little shy on meeting her. He hid his face against Wash’s chest. He was pleased that David acted like that. The two of them were bonded. He was afraid David would have an instinct that Megan was his mother.

  
“Hi David.” She got closer to try to touch his hand.

  
He got closer to Wash. “Hi.” He got  
very quiet.

  
Kimball needed to break the ice. “We have some nice toys over here for you to play with David. Would you like to play with Megan?”

  
David looked at the toys, he wanted to play. Then he looked at Wash. “Can Daddy play too?”

  
“No, these toys are only for you and Megan to play with.”

  
David kept looking at Wash before shaking his head. “No, I wanna play with Daddy.”

  
Wash wanted so badly to gloat ‘that’s my boy’. He was relieved that no matter what happened, David still loved him.

  
Kimball shot Wash a look. “Wash please.”

  
“David, it’s okay honey, you can play with her. She won’t hurt you.”

  
He didn’t look too sure, but he climbed off Wash’s lap and sat in front of the pile of toys. He started building with the blocks. Megan came to sit beside him. At first, he froze up and wouldn’t talk.

  
She had an easygoing personality and a sweet smile. Before Wash realized it, David came out of his shell and was talking and laughing with her. Wash didn’t want to be jealous, but he felt a shot go through his heart.

  
If David’s mother had been moody, bitchy, or selfish toward the child, Wash wouldn’t be worried. But this one was sweet, even tempered, and seemed to genuinely care about David. Megan had him worried.

  
After a while, Kimball decided to end Wash’s misery. “David, do you want to help me put back these toys so your Dad can talk to Megan?”

  
“Okay.” He picked up a handful of toys.

  
Megan went over to Wash and offered to shake hands. “Hello Agent Washington.”

  
He had too many manners to not shake it. “I go by Wash.”

  
“Okay Wash. David is so happy. You and your husband did a great job raising him.”

  
“Yes we did. I rearranged my whole life for him. I loved him from the very start.”

  
“I can see that. So did I.” She looked uncomfortable with this meeting.

  
“Let’s cut to the chase. I want to know why you are doing this; why now? He’s almost three. Tucker and I are all he knows. Why can’t you let him be happy with his family?”

  
She had tears in her eyes. “It’s because I love him. Giving him up was the worst mistake I ever made. You have no idea what it’s like to lose a child.”

  
Wash felt like he’d been slapped. It took all he had to keep his temper in check.

“And you think you’re the only one? We lost our newborn son a week before David came. He was born too early to survive. At least you can still see David, I’ll never be able to see my son again.”

  
His sad blue eyes pierced right through her. She looked embarrassed.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. When David was born, it was a complicated time. My boyfriend left me and my parents were ashamed of me being pregnant. I didn’t know where else to go. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I rushed into the decision. I’m sorry, but I want him back.”

  
He ran his hands through his blond hair. “I understand all that, we rushed into his adoption. We lost a child and he lost his family, it was meant to be. He knows we are his parents, he has a big sister to fight with. He’s best friends with our neighbor’s kids. He has good friends at his daycare. He’s healthy and happy, you need to think of your son.”

  
Her tears were flowing. “I am and I feel horrible, but I can’t live without him. I want my baby back.”

  
Wash’s heart was breaking. “I can’t live without him either.”

  
“Daddy, the toys are all clean!” David came running and took Wash’s hand.

  
Wash shook it off and came back to reality. “Good job kiddo.”

  
He smiled and looked all proud of himself for helping. Kimball was amused. “Yes, he’s such a good helper.”

  
Megan quickly wiped away her tears. She didn’t want to upset David. “You’re such a great little kid.”

  
She tried to get David to come to her, but he wouldn’t let go of Wash’s hand. Wash didn’t want to encourage it, but he was glad David still preferred him, that would look better if they had to go to court.

  
Megan didn’t push it, she got up to leave. “I will be seeing you all later.” She shot a look at Wash. “Bye David, I can’t wait until we can visit again.”

  
David smiled and waved at her, but wouldn’t leave Wash.

  
“Vanessa, why did you do this?”

  
“I wanted to show her how happy and well-adjusted David was with you and Tucker. I hoped to discourage her with going through further about the adoption.”

  
“Well thanks, but she still seems determined. Seriously, how much of a chance do we have to keep him?” He looked so desperate.

  
Kimball tried to be positive. “You have a great chance, the courts will side with you.” Wash could see it in her eyes, she wasn’t positive.

  
David tugged at his arm. “What’s wrong Daddy?”

  
Wash recovered and smiled at smiled at him. “Nothing’s wrong honey, everything’s fine.”

  
Kimball tried to keep it quiet. “I’ll keep you posted, I still need to hear from the lawyers. This isn’t over yet.”

  
Wash nodded. “Come on David, let’s go pick up Chloe.”

  
“Yay, I miss her, let’s go.” David was pulling Wash along.

  
He looked down at that little face. He really couldn’t live without him.

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

“Wash, why did you take David down there? Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

  
Tucker was pissed and Wash didn’t blame him. “I know, I’m sorry. Kimball asked me not to bring you, I was trying to spare you from it.”

  
Tucker was pacing across the kitchen floor. “Bullshit, you’re my husband, you tell me everything. David is as much my kid as he is yours.”

  
Wash dropped his head on the kitchen table. Between David and Tucker, his pain was too overwhelming. He wanted to cry, but he didn’t have enough strength left.

Tucker stopped his pacing and stood beside him. He put his hand on his shoulder.

  
“I’m sorry babe, I don’t mean to take it out on you, but you hurt my feelings. God, we’re not really losing David are we?”

  
Wash couldn’t even raise his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know what we’re going to do.” It wasn’t in his nature to give up, but he was lost.

  
Tucker leaned over him, laid his cheek against Wash’s blond hair and cried. Wash was Tucker’s source of strength. He needed that positivity…now it was gone.

  
“Dad, what’s going on? What’s wrong with David?” Chloe stood in the kitchen door. Her face looked so scared.

  
Tucker jumped, he didn’t want to upset the kids. He tried to wipe the tears off his cheeks the best he could.

“Nothing’s wrong with David.” He had to watch. Chloe was too smart for her own good.

  
Wash raised his head. His face looked terrible. His eyes were red and puffy. “Tucker, we may as well tell her. We can’t pretend anymore.”

  
He gave Wash a pained look, he wasn’t sure it was a good idea. He shrugged. If Wash thought it was a good idea, they should go for it.

  
Wash motioned for Chloe. “Come here sweetie, your Dad and I need to tell you something about David. His birth mother changed her mind about giving him up. Her lawyers may have found a problem with his adoption papers.” He was too choked up to finish.

  
Chloe got the point. “Daddy, do we have to give him up?”

  
“Maybe, maybe not. President Kimball is trying to help. No one knows yet.”

  
“No, sometimes he’s a pain in the butt and I wish he would go away, but Daddy, I don’t want David to go away.” She started crying.

  
Tucker put his arm around her and pulled her close. “Nobody wants that. We’re going to fight it. David is meant to be here with us. We’re fight it together as a family.”

  
Chloe cried harder. “But what about my mom, could she come and take me away too?”

  
Her eyes were big and scared. Her mother severely abused her for the first two years of her life. Tucker came in and saved her. She loved her Dads and even her brother. She was still terrified of her mother, even after five years.

  
Tucker pulled her closer and wrapped both arms around her. “No way honey. Your mother was evil, she hurt you and did a lot of other bad stuff. She’s been in and out of jail so many times, you don’t need to worry about her.” He kissed her cheek as she tried to stop crying.

  
Wash was faced with a new problem. “How do we tell David? He’ll never understand this.”

  
“We’ll have to figure out something, he’s going to be hearing about it no matter what happens. I think it’s better to hear it from the three of us first.”

  
Wash nodded and went to David’s bedroom followed by Tucker and Chloe. David was sitting on the floor, happily playing with his Matchbox cars.

  
He looked up as everyone crowded in his small bedroom. He loved getting all this attention. “Hi, wanna play with me?” He offered Wash his best cars to play with.

  
“Maybe in a little while.” He sat down on the bed. “Come here, we have some things to explain to you.”

David willingly went to Wash. Tucker and Chloe sat on the floor beside the bed.

  
“We need to tell you about how you were adopted.” He hoped David was old enough to understand.

  
He looked confused. “What’s ‘dopted?”

  
“Adopted. That means we went to find a perfect little boy like you and make you a part of our family.”

  
David still looked confused. Chloe tried to help. “Yeah David, I was adopted too. Daddy really is my real dad, but my mom was mean to me all the time . Our Daddies went in and saved me.”

  
“Was my mom mean to me too?” He was kind of catching on.

  
Wash shook his head. “No, your mother was really young when you were born. She couldn’t take care of you. Your Dad and I were missing our own little boy, and when we saw you, we fell in love with you. We brought you home with us to be our son.”

  
Tucker reached over to hold David’s hand. “You see, we picked you. Out of every little baby in the world, we picked you to be our son.”

  
David looked proud of that. “Wow, you really love me? So being ‘dopted is a good thing?”

  
Wash smiled and held him close. “Yes, it is a really good thing. I couldn’t love you more if you were my own son.”

  
David was deep in thought. “What happened to your son?”

  
Wash stiffened, he never really told David about how they lost Lucas. He didn’t know if any of them were ready for that. Tucker reached up to touch Wash’s arm for encouragement. This was a subject they couldn’t hide from the kids forever.

  
Wash took a deep breath. “Lucas was the baby that Daddy and I tried to have together. He was born too early, and he didn’t make it. A week after I lost him, we found out about you, and how you needed a home. It worked out perfectly.”

  
David thought about that. “Oh, I would like to have a brother.”

  
Wash had tears in his eyes. “I know he would have loved playing with you.” This was bringing up more pain than Wash could deal with.

  
Tucker and Chloe joined them up on the bed. The four of them needed to stick together. Wash would live and die for them.

  
He had to protect his family.

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

After dinner, the phone started ringing. Wash answered it, he especially didn’t want to when he saw it was from Kimball. “Yes Vanessa?”

  
Her voice sounded grim. “I spoke to the Jeffers’ lawyers. I have some bad news.”

  
“Oh god, what now?” He had Tucker’s attention. He tried to listen in on the conversation.

  
“They found that one of the forms needed for David’s adoption was left without a signature. I hoped it wouldn’t make any difference, but legally, it does.”

  
Wash’s heart stopped. “What does this mean?”

  
Kimball’s voice broke. “David’s adoption is null and void. Custody will be given to his birth parents.”

  
Tucker heard that. He forced the phone from Wash. “NO! We signed a dozen of those fucking forms. There is no way we missed one. We’ll come down and sign it now!”

  
“Tucker, it isn’t that easy. I don’t know how that page went unnoticed. Legally, I’ve done everything I can.”

  
“This is bullshit, they can’t take our kid away cause of one lousy piece of paper. This is our lives they’re dealing with. She didn’t want him, we do; case closed. We win.”

  
Wash pushed Tucker away from the phone. “So this means we lose? Is there nothing else we can do?”

  
“You can challenge the ruling in court. It can take up to a week to get a qualified judge to Chorus, but it can happen. We can have the courts rule which family is more fit to raise David.”

  
“There’s no guarantees the courts will even side with us. I can’t lose my son.”

  
“I know Wash, I’m so sorry. But you still have a chance. For now, I think it’s better to gather up some of David’s things and have him go home with his birth parents. It’s only for a week.”

  
It may as well be an eternity. “I don’t want him to leave. Why can’t he stay here until the hearing?”

  
“He technically belongs with the Jeffers. You have no choice. If you refuse, the police will forcibly take him to his parents. I think it’s easier on him for you to do it. And it looks better for your case.”

  
Wash felt dead. “Alright, we’ll bring him down.” He didn’t even realize he hung up the phone.

  
“Damnit Wash, we’re not taking him anywhere.”

  
“We have no choice.”

  
“Yes we do. They can’t take our baby away.”

  
“If we don’t, the cops will come and take him.”

  
“No way, I ain’t afraid of going to jail, it wouldn’t be the first time. No one’s taking him.”

  
“Tucker, stop it, you’re not going to fight anybody. Behave, we still have a chance to get him back. In a week, they’ll be a court hearing to decide who gets David.”

  
Tucker’s hopes dropped. “Yeah sure, how great will this look? I’ve been arrested for disorderly conduct and you were labeled insane by the military. What chance do we have?”

  
Wash was loosing it. “Tucker, I don’t know, I give up.”

  
Chloe came in the living room, took one look at her dads and knew what happened. Tears flowed down her face as she greaves ahold of Wash. “Daddy, don’t let him go.”

  
Wash couldn’t even feel his arms to put them around her, he couldn’t comfort her, he couldn’t feel anything. It made him him feel even worse.

  
Tucker put his hand on her shoulder. “There’s nothing we can do, not right now.”

  
“I thought we were gonna fight for him.”

  
“We will, this isn’t permanent, it will take some time.”

  
Wash snapped out of his shock. “Oh god, I have to find the way to tell David about this. Even if it’s only for a week, he’s never been away from us.”

  
David was watching TV. Wash walked over and shut it off. “David, you’re going to be taking a little trip.”

  
“With you Daddy?”

  
“No honey, not with me. You were going to stay with another family for a while.”

  
David was confused. “With who?”

  
“Remember the new friend Megan you made? It’s her and her husband.”

  
“But why? Don’t you want me anymore?”

  
Wash nearly lost it. “No honey, I really want you, I love you so much. Those two are your real parents and they want you back. We don’t want to let you go, but we don’t have a choice.”

  
His little lip started quivering. “Daddy, I wanna stay. I’ll be really good, you won’t have to yell at me anymore.” His tears started flowing.

  
Wash couldn’t keep his tears back. “Sweetie, you are a really good kid. That has nothing to do with it. It’s only one week. I promise I’ll do everything to get you back. Can you be brave for me and help out?”

  
He nodded through his tears. He wouldn’t let go of Wash.

  
“Okay, let’s go pick out what stuff you want to take with you.” He turned to Tucker. “Can you call Simmons and see if we can leave Chloe over there for the night?”

  
“No Daddy, I want to go too.”

  
“Honey, I don’t want you more traumatized than you already are. Please, can you pack an overnight bag. I don’t know long we’ll be.”

  
She stalked through her bedroom door and slammed it as hard as she could. She wanted to see her brother while she still could.

  
Tucker came back from calling Simmons and went to help Wash. “I called him. He said of course she can stay. And I told him why already.” Tucker’s eyes were so red and puffy from crying.

  
Wash was trying to pack David’s things while he was still holding onto his arm. Tucker went over to get him. “Come here little dude, I wanna hold you for a while.” He swung him up in the air and David actually smiled for him.

  
He threw both arms around Tucker’s neck. “Daddy, you never got to teach my to play football.”

  
“Yeah, I forgot about that. When you come home I’ll teach you and we can play with Chloe.”

  
“‘Kay.”

  
Wash was looking around the room. “Well I think you have enough stuff for the week here.”

  
“Don’t forget the stuffed elephant I got him.” He looked down at David. “That way you’ll have something to remember me by.”

  
“I’ll see you in a week.”

  
Tucker choked back a sob. “Yeah, of course you will.”

  
“Alright you guys, let’s go.” Wash was ready to push Tucker to move.

  
Tucker sat David up on his shoulders. “Okay kiddo, here we go.”

  
Wash took in one last look at David while he was still happy. This was going to break David’s heart, he just knew it.  
  



	8. Chapter 8

 

When they entered Kimball’s office, Wash saw Megan waiting. Beside her stood who he assumed was David’s father. He was tall with dark skin, buzzed dark brown hair and a goatee. Right away Wash tensed up, he didn’t trust this guy.

  
His eyes darted nervously and his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He seemed to recognize them both. “Agent Washington, Captain Tucker, it’s nice to see you again.”

  
Tucker was taken aback, he couldn’t remember who the hell this guy was. Wash just nodded politely, Tucker would have to ask him later if he actually knew who the dude was.

  
All Tucker knew was this guy was a player. Tucker could spot one a mile away, he was one when he was younger. He didn’t trust leaving his son with this guy.

  
Kimball stepped in. “Kenan Jeffers trained briefly for UNSC. Tucker, you were first instructor.”

  
Tucker hated him. “Yeah, small pathetic world.” Wash elbowed him to be quiet.

  
David was unusually quiet. One hand held onto Wash and the other held onto Tucker. It was clear he didn’t want to leave his dads. Megan knelt in front of him and tried to get him to come to her. He refused to go.

  
“Kenan, what do you think? That’s our little boy.” She looked so happy while her husband merely shrugged.

  
“He’s alright, he’ll do.”

  
Tucker wanted to reach right across this office and punch him out. David was perfect. Wash’s blue eyes narrowed. He didn’t want to let go of David’s little hand. This idiot didn’t deserve him.

  
Megan tried to make up for it. “We can’t wait for you to move in with us. I decorated your bedroom, and I have all kinds of toys for you .”

  
For the first time David spoke. “But I’ll only be there a week.”

  
“Oh no honey, this is forever. We’re your parents now, you’re our little boy.” She smiled so happily.

  
Wash cringed, he knew how David would react. Secretly he wanted David to throw a fit so they could take him back home where he belonged.

  
“No! I want my Daddies, I wanna stay.” He grabbed on tighter to Wash. “Daddy, I love you, don’t make me go.”

  
Megan tried to take his hand. “No honey, I’m your Mommy, you’re coming home with me.”

  
She tried to pull David away from Wash, but he wouldn’t budge. Kenan came over to help. He grabbed David’s arm too tightly and jerked him off too roughly. David cried even louder.

  
Wash shot a warning glare at him. Kenan softened his grip. Wash glared him down until he let go of David altogether.

He saw the look of fear in Megan’s eyes when her husband was near, he abused her. His suspicions were correct. He worried about David, there was no one who could save him in that house.

  
“Hey David, look at me. You promised you would be brave. I need you to go with your parents tonight. I swear your Daddy and I will do whatever it takes to get you back. I need you to promise me.”

  
David struggled to stop crying. “‘Kay Daddy, I promise.”

  
“That’s my boy. Give us a hug, then you have to leave with them.”

  
“Okay Daddy.” He was crying again, he couldn’t stop. Wash and Tucker both held him tight. Tucker tried to be positive. “I’ll see ya in a week little dude. I love you.”

  
Before he let David go, he pulled a silver necklace out of his pocket. He slipped it over David’s head.

“These were my dog tags when I was in the military. These meant a lot to me, so I’m giving them to you. This way, I’ll always be with you. Take care of them.”

  
“I will Daddy.” Wash didn’t want to let go of their hug. He was so scared he would never see him again.

  
“Be a good boy, listen to your parents.” Megan tried taking his hand again. This time he took it, but he wouldn’t look forward. He kept looking back at Wash and Tucker.

  
Wash waited for Kenan to be out of earshot. He slipped a piece of paper into Megan’s hand. He spoke quietly so he wouldn’t alarm David.

  
“If he hurts my baby, I will kill him. If you want protection or to get away from him, we can help you. You and David deserve better than this. You have to think about David.”

  
She looked at the paper, it was a phone number.

  
“Call if you need anything.”

  
She nodded and hurried along with David. Wash couldn’t handle seeing him walk through the door. He stood watching it, half hoping that David would come running back through it.

  
A sudden hand on his shoulder made him jump. “You okay babe?”

  
“No, not at all.”

  
“Yeah, me either.”

  
Carolina came storming through the door. “What’s going on guys? Why is David leaving with those people?”

  
Wash answered. “They’re his birth parents, they were given custody of David.”

  
She looked pissed. “Why would you let that loser pervert anywhere near your kid?”

  
She had Wash’s attention. “What are you talking about?”

  
“I can’t recall his name, but the idiot was stationed at our base a couple of years ago. He got kicked out for bad conduct.”

  
Tucker scoffed. “It must have been bad then. As badly behaved as I’ve been, they arrested me once, but never kicked me out.”

  
“You’re a pain in the ass, but harmless compared to him. I caught him trying to rape one of the female cadets in her room. I put an end to it.”

  
Wash was too scared to ask how, but Tucker wasn’t that bright. “How did you do it?”

  
“I damn near threw him through the wall. He stopped pretty quick.”

  
Tucker grinned. “You’re such a badass.”

  
Wash looked over at Kimball. “Can’t we use this to help our case?”

  
“Absolutely.” She started flipping through her files. “I’ll be gathering every fact I can about Kenan Jeffers. We’ll get David home yet.”

  
Tucker tried to smile. “Ya see Wash, it can work out. We’ll get our son.”

  
Wash shook his head, he still looked miserable. “David is still out there with that jerk. I know he won’t hesitate abusing him. I just hope we make it in time.”

  
Wash felt so helpless, he couldn’t protect his baby.


	9. Chapter 9

 

Chloe wasn’t having an easy time handling the situation. Wash tried to walk her to the Grif-Simmons’ door, but she broke away and ran to the porch. She still wouldn’t talk to him. She wanted to be with David one last time.

  
Simmons met her at the door, she grabbed ahold of him and cried. Wash stood and watched, he was heartbroken. He didn’t want both his kids to hate him. It was for Chloe’s own good, but she didn’t believe it.

  
“Don’t worry Wash, we’ll take care of her. She’ll calm down.”

  
Wash nodded miserably. “Thanks.”

  
Simmons led her into the house. “How are you holding up honey?”

  
“Terrible.” Her crying calmed down some, she was sniffling. He hoped the kids would be a good distraction for her.

  
Grif was rounding the twins up for bedtime, but they were giving him a workout instead. Dex was at the kitchen table having a bedtime snack. He poured an extra glass of milk and offered it to Chloe, but she shook her head.

  
“Go ahead honey, you can have some cookies and milk with Dex.”  
She shook her head again. “No thanks.”

  
Dex looked disappointed. “Chocolate chip is your favorite.”

  
She snapped at him. “I said I don’t want any!” She ran to the couch, flopped down and tried not to cry. Simmons sat beside her, she laid her head on his shoulder and her tears flowed.

  
Dex looked confused. “What’s wrong with her?”

  
“She’ll be okay, just leave her alone for now.”

  
Grif came in followed by Jacob and Mira. “I give up trying to get these two disasters to bed. I ain’t any good at it.” His face softened when he saw Chloe crying. “I’m so sorry kiddo.”

  
Jacob tugged at Grif’s sleeve. He looked worried. “What’s wrong Daddy?”

  
Grif looked at Simmons. “Should I tell them?”

  
Simmons shrugged. “Might as well, I think they’re old enough to understand.”

  
“Wash and Tucker lost custody of David to his birth parents. He’s going to stay with them for now on.”

  
Mira tried to understand. “You mean he won’t be playing with us no more?”

  
Simmons corrected her. “That’s ‘any more’. And no honey, I’m afraid not.”

  
Jacob went over to him. “Daddy, that won’t ever happen to us will it?” He was very attached to his family, especially Simmons.

  
He gave him a reassuring smile. “No, don’t worry about that. We are your birth parents. No one can take you away.” He looked happy.

  
Grif gave an evil grin. “Yeah, So don’t get your hopes up. You guys are stuck with us.”

  
He hoped making a joke would cheer Chloe up, but she looked more miserable. Simmons shot him a look and he backed away to the kitchen. There was a plate of cookies calling his name.

  
Simmons put his arm around her and held her close. She sniffled. “I was always mean to David, he was like a bratty little pest. But I loved him, now he’ll never know it.”

  
“No honey, I’m sure he knew it. He always adored you, that’s why he always picked on you.”

  
Grif finished crunching away on his cookies. “This is my area of expertise. I know all about bratty younger siblings.”

  
He had her attention. She raised up her head to listen.

  
“My little sister Kai, constantly got on my nerves when we were kids. It’s kinda the same way Mira gives Dex a hard time. That’s what brothers and sisters do, you’re normal.”

  
She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. It’s gonna be so quiet without him around.”

  
Simmons gave her a little squeeze. “It’ll take time, but you’ll get through it.”

  
He looked up at the clock. “Grif, try to get the kids to bed, I don’t want to leave her right now.”

  
Grif gave a sulky look. “If I have to…” The look on Simmons’ face said yes. “C’mon, you guys better not give me a hard time.”

  
Dex jumped up. “Will you read us a story?”

  
“Sure, pick one out.” He looked back at Simmons. “You owe me one.”

  
Simmons looked down at Chloe. “If you want to bunk with Mira, Jake can stay with Dex.”

  
She shook her head. “No thank you, I can stay here.” She gave a big yawn, but she was still too upset to sleep. He took the afghan off the back of the couch to cover her up. He fought off a big yawn. He was used to going to bed early.

  
Chloe noticed. “You can go to bed if you’re sleepy. I’ll be okay here.”

  
Simmons felt more awake. “No, it’s alright, I’ll stay here with you until you fall asleep.”

  
She yawned again, it was a lot bigger. “Thank you Uncle Simmons.”

  
“Any time sweetie. Try to get some sleep.” He didn’t hear anything out of Grif and the kids, he hoped they were all sleeping.

  
The sharp ring of the phone startled Simmons and Chloe. “Hi Wash. Chloe’s right here with me, she’s not quite asleep…I’ll ask her.” He turned away from the phone. “Do you want your Dad to come pick you up?”

  
She thought about before nodding. “Yeah, I think so.” Ordinarily, she loved staying overnight here, but she was in no mood.

  
“She said yes, I’ll wait up for you.”

  
By the time Simmons hung up, Chloe was pretty much passed out. The poor thing was exhausted. Wash was there five minutes later. He was figuring out how to move her without waking her.

  
“Wash, just pick her up, blanket and all. Don’t wake her up, she can borrow the blanket, that doesn’t matter.”

  
Wash looked at him with the saddest look Simmons ever saw from him. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot and the dark circles under them looked like he had two black eyes.

  
Simmons touched his arm. “Make sure to get some sleep tonight. I know how much you miss David, but don’t forget about Chloe. She’s upset over this, she needs you too.”

  
He looked down at his sleeping daughter. “Yeah, I need to.”

  
Simmons turned off all the lights and started for bed. He found a surprise when he got there. Grif had been reading to the kids in their room and all four of them fell asleep on the bed.

  
He stood in the doorway watching them. He had a crazy, dysfunctional family, but they were his. He was thankful that nobody could take them away from him. He couldn’t help but smile.

  
Then a new thought hit him: where the hell was he going to sleep? All three kids were sprawled out and snoring almost bad as Grif always did.

  
Grif held out his hand, he wasn’t quite asleep yet. “C’mon, we were missing you.”

  
Simmons slid in beside Jacob and hoped there was enough room. Jacob snuggled closer to him and wanted to be held. Grif reached over to hold his hand.

  
Somehow Simmons made it through the night.  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. Chapter 10

 

David followed Megan and Kenan, but he felt like he was in a daze. He was being told that these two were his parents, but his real ones were at home without him. That was where he wanted to be.

  
He tried not to cry, he promised his Dad. He was led into a very tiny house. There wasn’t much room for him to play, and no backyard to run around in. He was already sad. Kenan was quiet towards David, but Megan tried to make him feel at home.

  
“Here is your bedroom David. I decorated it just for you. I hope you like it.”

He hoped it was dinosaurs, that’s how his room at home was decorated.

  
She opened the door and led him in. As soon as turned on the light. He let out a scream of terror. It was decorated with clowns.

They were on the wallpaper, the bedspread, curtains, and there were a bunch scattered about the room. He was terrified.

  
Thanks to Tucker’s own phobia of clowns, he passed that fear to David. He was convinced that clowns were evil. He couldn’t sleep in this room.

  
Kenan came running in. “What’s the hell is the matter?” He didn’t know whether to be pissed or worried.

  
Megan shook her head. “I don’t know, it must be the clowns.” She looked at David who nodded. “I’m sorry, I thought kids would like clowns.”

  
“I told you that was a bad idea.” He knelt in front of David. “Look they’re clowns, they’re colorful, they won’t hurt you. You have to get used to it.”

  
David cried harder. “No, they’re scary. I wanna go home, I want my Daddies.”

  
Kenan patience was tested. “We are your parents now, so get used to it.”

  
Megan tried to interfere. “You know David, we can take the clowns away if you really don’t like them. It isn’t that big of a deal.”

  
“No, we paid good money for that crap, he has to get used to it. Afraid of clowns, are you kidding me? Those two fags made a crybaby out of my son. Quit screaming and go to sleep.” He walked away muttering under his breath.

  
David got quiet. Megan rushed around the room moving around the clown figures so he couldn’t see them. “There, does that help any? I can’t do anything about the bedspread and curtains.

  
He only shrugged. He was in no mood to talk.

  
She helped him get ready for bed. He was too scared to even touch the bed, he knew those clowns were there. She helped him up and tucked him in. She tried to give him a kiss, but he turned away.

  
She sighed. “I guess it’s too soon, but I’ll wait as long as it takes for you to come around. I know you miss your Dads, but I love you so much. Please give me a chance?”

  
David was still quiet, he turned to face the wall. He didn’t want to be here, this wasn’t where he belonged. He felt it was all her fault.

“Goodnight David.”

  
He didn’t answer. He lay staring at the wall until he knew she was gone. He was left alone in the dark. He always used a nightlight at home, this was too dark, he hated it. And he knew those clowns were lurking around to get him.

  
He shut his eyes tight and hid under the blankets. If he couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see him. He fought back the urge to cry. Wash wouldn’t want him to be scared.

  
He grabbed ahold of the dog tags Wash gave him. He held on tightly, wishing his Dad would come for him. With the tears flowing, he finally fell asleep.

 

 

Wash carefully carried Chloe to her room. He laid her in her bed and tucked her in. He smoothed her hair back from her face. Her face was so tear stained, he felt bad for her. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and turned out the lights.

  
This was the part Wash dreaded, the first night without David. It was so quiet. The first night with David as a newborn was super hectic. He screamed every time Wash put him down.

He never wanted to be separated from Wash, so how could he leave him with strangers? How could he just let his little boy go like he was nothing?

  
He sat at the edge of his bed, trying not to disturb Tucker. He sat with his face in his hands, trying to deal with this awful silence.

  
“You okay babe?” Wash raised his head, Tucker was lying the dark, tears streaming down his face, just watching Wash.

  
“Hey, I thought you were sleeping.”

  
“No way, who can sleep with all this quiet? By this time, David would have plowed through our door about five times, so one of us would have to put him back to bed. I keep waiting for it.” Fresh tears flowed down his cheeks.

  
“How are we going to get through this? Simmons told me how upset Chloe is over this. It’s like it’s wrecking all of our lives. David was meant to be with us.”

  
“Man, I know it. Maybe when the judge gets here, Kimball can convince him to give us custody. That father of David’s is a real douche, he should’nt be allowed to have kids.”

  
“There’s no guarantees. I feel like we’ve lost.”

  
“Come here babe. We still have each other, you still have me and Chloe, we’ll never leave you.”

  
Wash shuddered. “This is all taking me back to when we lost Lucas. I keep thinking it’s all my fault. If I tried harder, fought harder, maybe Lucas would still be alive. Maybe David’s adoption wouldn’t have the mistake in it. Maybe Chloe wouldn’t have been crying her eyes out…maybe it’s all my fault.”

  
Tucker grabbed him and pulled him further into the bed. He put his arms around him and held him close.

“Don’t ever say that. There was nothing you could have done, with any of this. This is life, it’s not always perfect, terrible things happen. Blaming yourself won’t fix any of it.”

  
Wash gave up fighting it, he went limp in Tucker’s arms and cried harder than he ever had. He cried for every terrible thing and every wonderful thing that ever happened to him. He cried for all of it.

  
Tucker held him and stroked his blond hair until the crying stopped. When Tucker looked down, Wash was asleep. He needed this, he needed to heal. Soon Tucker feel asleep too.

  
For once, the nightmares didn’t come for Wash. He was playing with a young child. He assumed it was David until he looked down. It was Lucas, he looked to be three years old. He smiled up at Wash with the biggest smile. He son really did love him, that helped.

  
Wash kept that gentle, peaceful smile with him all through the night.

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

Early in the morning, Wash sat at the kitchen table. He was downing some leftover coffee from the night before. He made a face as he drank it, but he didn’t have the energy to make a fresh pot. He could use the extra caffeine.

  
He heard the kitchen door open, Chloe came padding in, she was wearing her favorite bunny slippers. She didn’t look much better than the night before. She hadn’t brushed her hair and her eyes were all puffy. She sat at the table, eyes down. She didn’t know what to say to her Dad.

  
“Morning sweetie, you want some juice?”

  
Slowly she nodded. Wash poured some and put her glass in front of her. This was the best time to talk to her, when it was quiet.

  
“There were a few things I need to tell you. Sending David with his other parents is only temporary. A judge will be coming in sometime this week to say who actually gets custody of him. Your Dad and I have a good chance at winning back custody. His real Dad has some major issues.”

  
She looked up at him. “Like my Mom did?”

  
“Yes, he’s not much better than she was. His mother seems like she’ll be good to him, but I’m afraid to leave him there any longer than needed.”

  
“He’s not gonna hurt David is he?”

  
“I don’t think he’s that stupid. They both know they’re custody isn’t permanent. I hope we’ll get him out in time.”

  
She nodded. “Daddy, I’m sorry for getting mad last night.”

  
“It’s okay, I deserved it. Another thing is no matter what happens with David, you’ll always be in my heart. You and your Dad are the only reasons I’m still going on. I’m upset right now, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you.”

  
She let him put his arm around her. “I love you Daddy.”

  
“I love you too sweetie.”

He finished his terrible coffee, and got up to start another pot. “I have no idea what time your Dad’s getting up. You want to take a walk around the block, just the two of us?”

  
Chloe perked up. “Yeah, I’ll get my shoes.”

  
Wash felt a little better, this will keep his mind off his problems. Thank god he had Chloe. He didn’t know what he would do without her. It’s funny how he never fully appreciated his kids until something terrible happened.

  
They enjoyed a nice stroll together. It had been a while since Wash could have a full conversation with Chloe without David butting in twenty times. He felt a little better, but he knew as soon as they went back in that house, all the memories would come flooding back.

  
Tucker was already awake when they got back. “Oh, I was wondering where you guys were. I would volunteer making breakfast, but I suck at everything but cereal. So I started some cereal.”

  
“That sounds good.” Wash looked at the counter. Tucker had made a fourth bowl of cereal and he was in the process of cutting up a banana. “What are you doing?”

  
Tucker looked down and his brain finally processed what it was doing. “Ugh, I was making the cereal the way David likes it. Shit, I’m losing my mind.” He slammed down the knife. “Damnit, this place isn’t the same without him.”

  
Wash motioned for Tucker to be quiet. “Watch what you say around Chloe. She really misses David too. Don’t upset her any more than she is already.”

  
Tucker took a deep breath. “Okay, this is hard man.” He set a bowl in front of Chloe. “There you are madam.”

  
“Thanks Daddy.” She really didn’t want it and just picked at it.

  
Wash and Tucker felt the same way and went through the motions that life was okay. Even when it wasn’t.

  
Tucker broke the silence. “I never thought I’d say it, but I’m go back to work tomorrow.”

  
Wash tried to smile. “That’s the first time ever you would volunteer for work.”

  
The phone rang. Wash hated that damn thing, it always meant distress in his life when it did. Ugh, it was Kimball, what more could she take from his life?

  
“What Vanessa?” He was in no mood to be polite.

  
“Sorry to call so early. I spent most of the night going through any files and police reports I could find on Kenan Jeffers.”

  
Wash felt a little hope. “What all did you find, can we bust him?”

  
“I called ahead to the judge bring sent to handle David’s case. According to all the points on his permanent record, in and out of the military, we may be able to get David out even before the hearing.”

  
“Like how much sooner?”

  
“In about as long as it takes me to write up a warrant. There’s a certain crime involving a liquor store that was robbed. He and a few buddies of his are the main suspects. And with doing the math, his own wife was underage when she gave birth to their son, he could be charged with statutory rape. That depends on if she had parental consent to date him.”

  
“So we can get David back permanently?”

  
“Definitely, considering all the charges he’s had over the years, no court in their right minds would give him that child.”

  
“Oh thank god. But what about his mother, I know she’s being abused. I gave her my number and told her we can help her if she wants it.”

  
“Wanting help is going to be the problem. Women in her situation usually stay with the abuser. She may even make up excuses for him.”

  
“I don’t know, something’s telling me she wants help and doesn’t know how to get away.”

  
“If she’s willing to leave him, we’ll give her protection. Especially if she rats him out about the burglary. Carolina’s on the case. As soon as she gets enough evidence, I thought that the two of you can go in together to arrest him.”

  
Wash hadn’t actively served in so long, he was afraid he would be too rusty. But this was his chance to get his child back.

  
“Alright, I’m in. Tell Carolina to hurry.”

  
“She will. I’ll let you know when we get the warrant.”

  
He hung up the phone in a daze. He didn’t want get his hopes up on getting David back. Now he was impatient, how long until he got that phone call?

  
Unfortunately for him, a phone call would come sooner than he thought.  



	12. Chapter 12

 

David jumped awake. It was early morning and Megan was lightly knocking at his door. For the last two mornings, David woke up hoping this was all a horrible dream.

But no, the evil clowns were still staring at him every morning. They were laughing at his pain.

  
He kept wishing his Dads would come and save him. Wash was always there for him, where was he? He needed him.

  
He wanted to stay buried under the covers and not wake up. No…the clowns were here, he was safer out of this room.

  
“Good morning David. Your Dad’s getting ready to leave for work. We want you to come out and have breakfast with us.”

  
‘He’s not my Dad’, is what David was thinking, but he wouldn’t say it. He refused to talk any more than necessary until he went back home where he belonged.

  
She pulled out a light blue t-shirt and dark jeans. “Here, I’ll help you get changed and then we can go to the park later. Won’t that be fun?”

  
He shrugged, he was too sad to talk to her. He liked her better before she took him away from his family.

  
She sighed. “Still not ready to talk to me? I know you miss your Dads, they were really good to you. But this is about genetics, you belong with your real parents.” She was desperately trying to get David to understand.

  
He wouldn’t give in. “They’re my real parents, my Daddies love me, I love them.” His bottom lip went into a pout, he was refusing to listen.

  
“Alright, I’ll give you some more time. Let’s go out before Dad gets upset.”

  
David shuddered at the thought. He was afraid of Kenan. He never knew what he would get yelled at for, so he tried to stay quiet. Now he couldn’t avoid it.

  
“What took you two so long?” Kenan was already grumpy, Megan was getting nervous.

  
“I had to help David get ready.”

  
“The kid is getting old enough to do stuff on his own without getting babied all the time.”

  
“He’s not even three, he still needs help.”

She a plate of eggs and toast in front of David and gave him a little smile. At least she was on his side. He felt a little guilty that he couldn’t like her.

  
He picked at his food. In general, he wasn’t a picky eater, he was good at eating almost everything. Except vegetables, even Wash couldn’t make him eat those. He liked scrambled eggs; usually. Today though, he couldn’t make them go down.

  
“What’s wrong David? You need to eat, you’ve barely eaten anything in the last two days. Do you want to help you?”

  
Kenan slammed down his fork. “There you go, spoiling the kid again.” He turned to David. “You pick up your fork and eat your damn breakfast. You will not waste food in this house.” He angrily finished his own breakfast.

  
David was scared and his hands were shaking. He spilled some off his eggs. When he went to pick them up, he spilled his glass of milk all over the table. He cried out, he was so scared of what Kenan would do.

  
He reached across the table and slapped David’s face. David was never hit in his life, he didn’t how to react to it. He screamed and went running to his room. Right now, the clowns were safe compared to Kenan.

  
He heard Megan yell. “Don’t hit him, he only spilled milk. What is wrong with you?”

  
“Unless you want hit too, you clean up his mess and you discipline that boy. When I come home from work, I’ll discipline him myself.”

  
There were loud banging noises and the slamming of the door. David waited until it was all quiet to come out from under the covers. Tears ran down his little face, he wanted his Dads. They never yelled at him, they never hit him.

  
He cheek still stung where he was slapped. He got the stuffed blue elephant that Tucker got for him. He held it close and cried.

  
Megan came in, she had tear stains on her face. “I’m so sorry baby. He had no right to hit you. Before we went through the custody procedures for you, he swore he would different. He swore he would never hurt either of us. I believed him, but it never happened.”

  
He looked up miserably from his stuffed elephant. “I wanna go home. I want my Daddy.”

  
“I’m sorry, you belong with us now.”

  
David cried harder. “I want my Daddy! I want my Daddy!” He refused to talk to her for the rest of the day. He wouldn’t even come out of the room.

  
Later that evening, Kenan came back home. He was in no better mood than he was earlier. Megan came to David’s room to get him for dinner, but he shook his head sadly.

  
“David, you need to eat, you haven’t had anything today. You’ll get sick. You don’t want your Dad to get upset again do you?”

  
He didn’t want to leave that room. It was a bad idea, he knew it. Kenan was already sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for dinner.

“Hurry up already. Don’t tell me we’re still waiting on that little brat again.”

  
David froze. He couldn’t walk into that kitchen. He was starting to cry again. He couldn’t stay in this house another minute. He needed Wash. Megan tried to push him out, but he wouldn’t move.

  
“If he won’t listen to you, he’ll listen to me.” David shook with fear when he heard him coming. He grabbed ahold of Wash’s dog tags, hoping they would save him.

  
“When you’re told to do something, you do it or else.” He noticed the dog tags. “What the hell do you have there?” He tried to grab them.

  
David stepped back. “No, they’re mine. My Daddy gave them to me.” He tried to move away from Kenan, but he roughly grabbed ahold of David. He winced in pain.  
Kenan ripped them away from David and read what they were.

“Why do you have these things in my house?”

  
David’s eyes were big with fear. His voice was so small. “They are my Daddy’s.” He looked down at the floor.

  
Kenan threw the tags against the wall. “Forget about that loser!”

  
He slapped David across the face again, but even harder this time. The force threw the small child back. He tripped over the rocking chair in the room, and hit his forehead hard against it. David screamed in pain.

  
Kenan looked surprised, he wasn’t planning on hurting him that much. Megan came running in. “What did you do to him?” She knelt down and took David in her arms.

  
“The damn kid tripped over the chair, I didn’t do that.”

  
“I heard you hit him. You said you were going to change. Get out of here.”

  
“You would pick that little crybaby over me?”

  
“Yes, I do.”

  
“Good, I never wanted the little brat anyway. I was only trying to avoid a jail sentence since you were stupid enough to get pregnant.”

  
He stepped to her and acted like he was going to hit her. She flinched and he laughed at her. He went through the house smashing everything he could find. He was going crazy.

  
Megan drew out her cell phone. She sent a text to Wash’s phone. She didn’t know who else to call.

  
She simply sent. “Please help us.” She hoped Wash would come.

 


	13. Chapter 13

 

Wash’s text notification went off. He hoped it was Kimball or Carolina. He sighed impatiently when he saw a number that he didn’t recognize. He even debated on reading it or not.

  
Finally he gave in and clicked on it. A cold chill shot down his spine. That had to be Megan. David was in trouble.

  
He texted Carolina. “How soon until we get the arrest warrant? David’s in danger, I have to get him.”

  
Within seconds she answered. “Just got the info to Kimball, she’s typing it up as we speak.”

  
“Good, I’m sending Tucker down to get it. You want to help me get David?”

  
“You know it. Suit up, I’ll be there.”

  
Tucker came up behind him. “What’s going on babe?”

  
“Good, you’re here. I need you to run down to Kimball’s office. She has the warrant to arrest Jeffers. Carolina and I are getting David out of there.”

  
“Shouldn’t I go with you? I want to see David.”

  
“There’s no need, we can handle one idiot. You’ll have plenty of time with David later. We have to hurry, I had a distress call from Megan.”

  
“Oh god, if that asshole hurts David…”

  
“He’ll be okay, move it Tucker.”

 

 

Wash looked up the Jeffers’ address. Carolina was arriving at the scene as soon as he was. It felt good to be working together again after all these years. He took in a deep breath. This was for his son, he couldn’t afford to freeze up.

  
Carolina was in position to break down the door. “You ready to do this Wash?”

  
“You know it.” He waited days to see David again.

  
Their search started in the kitchen. From the living room, they heard the sound of glass breaking. Wash ran after the sound. “Carolina, the coward’s getting away.”

  
“Don’t worry, he won’t get far.”

  
Wash was going to chase him down, but he heard David crying. It made him freeze. The intensity of his cry made Wash scared, his baby was hurt and he needed him. But he had a suspect to go after. He was torn between his mission and his child.

  
Carolina had his back. She anticipated his indecision. “I got this jerk, you go get your kid. He needs you.”

  
He only thought about it for a second, he knew where his priorities were. “Thanks Carolina.”

  
He followed the sound of David’s crying while Carolina took off through the broken window to catch Kenan.

  
Wash ended up in the bedroom. Megan was sitting on the floor, with David in her lap. He was crying from his injuries and Megan tried to comfort him the best she could.

  
She moved as soon as she saw Wash. “Thank goodness, I’m trying to keep him stable. He hit his head, I don’t think it’s bad, but I’m too scared to move him.”

  
David was still crying. Wash tore off his grey and yellow helmet so he could see David better.

“David.” He only had to say his name once.

  
David heard that voice, he instantly   
stopped crying. “Daddy, Daddy!”

He tried to get up to go to Wash, but he couldn’t get up. He had to move quickly to keep David from moving too much.

  
“No honey, don’t try to move. I don’t know how badly hurt you are.”

He gently pulled his son into his arms and held him close. He looked at his injuries. He had a big bump on his forehead, it was cut and bleeding a little. His cheek was bruised where he was slapped.David was alert, but Wash feared he could have a concussion.

  
“Daddy, I’m all dizzy. You look funny.” He looked so confused.

  
“Shh, just lay back honey. I want the Doctor to check you over.”

  
“But Daddy, what about the mean guy?”

  
“Don’t worry about him. Aunt ‘Lina will get him. Daddy’s here, I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

  
He gave a little smile. “I knew you’d come save me.”

  
“I’m your Dad, that’s my job.” He turned to Megan. “I don’t want to hate you, but now do you see why David belongs back with us?”

  
She nodded. “I know, I only wanted to do the right thing. I really care about him. I’m going to Kimball in the morning and officially signing all the papers. David is your son.”

  
“Thank you. What about you, do you have somewhere safe to go?”

  
She shrugged. “My parents aren’t much better than my husband. I’ll have to stay here and hope for the best.”

  
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you some help.”

  
Tucker came running in. “I got one arrest warrant for the number douche. Where is he so I can kick his ass?”

  
“Chill out Tucker. Carolina’s after him, we got David to watch after. He’s going to need the Doctor.”

  
Tucker took off his aqua helmet and knelt down beside Wash, who carefully cradling David. He was looking so sleepy, that was worrying Wash.

  
David’s face lit up when he saw Tucker. “Daddy! I missed you!”

  
He held David’s little hand. “I missed you too little dude.” He checked out his face. “What did that moron do to you?”

  
“He hurt me Daddy, he’s real scary too. They made me sleep with clowns.” He sounded so miserable.

  
For the first time, Tucker looked around at all the clowns in the room. He couldn’t help shuddering. “Oh dear god, you poor little thing. You’ll be back at home with your nice safe dinosaurs.”

  
There was a crashing noise, and the sound of a man screaming.

Tucker didn’t look concerned. “Oh, looks like Carolina found her man. It serves him right.”

  
Carolina literally dragged Kenan across the room. He was in handcuffs and his face was bruised up and bleeding. Carolina looked proud of herself.

  
Wash tried not to laugh. “‘Lina, what did you do to him?”

  
She shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “My fist couldn’t resist telling his face what an asshole he’s been. He thinks it’s okay to pick on little kids, he’s not so tough with somebody that can fight back.”

  
Wash looked pleased “That’s exactly what I wanted to do to him. I just hope you don’t get in too much trouble with Kimball for this.”

  
“If I do, then I do. Nobody is going to hurt that little boy and get away with it. Your kids are special Wash, they’re the closest I’ll ever have to kids. I’ll do what it takes to protect them.”

  
Tucker glared hatefully at him. “You deserve more than that asshole.”

He handed the warrant over to Carolina. He fought the urge to kick Kenan when he went past. He didn’t want David traumatized anymore.

  
“Tucker, you can help me take Kenan to jail, Wash you better get David to Doctor Grey.” She gently tousled his hair. He gave her a big smile.

  
From the time he was a little baby, he always loved his Aunt Carolina. “Thank you Aunt ‘Lina!”

  
“Anytime sweetie. Come on Tucker, you can have the first shot.”

  
“Gladly.” He stood Kenan up by twisting his arms in the handcuffs. He let out a howl of pain. “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean that. I meant this…” He twisted his wrists as he led him out the door. Kenan continued crying in pain.

  
Wash smiled affectionately at Tucker’s antics. This was the only time he’d allow it. He looked down and smiled at his son.

  
“Come on honey, you’re getting out of here.”  
  



	14. Chapter 14

 

“Alright sweetie pie, hold still, I have to clean out your cut.” Dr. Grey carefully cleaned around David’s cut on his forehead. He stayed still for that. But when she put on some liquid antibiotic, he nearly screamed.

  
“I’m sorry, I know that stings, but it’s important.”

  
He calmed down to a whimpering. The Doctor rummaged around in her medical drawer and pulled a bandaid to cover it. “I know what you would like, there’s a dinosaur on the bandage.”

  
He stopped crying. “Yay!”

  
She carefully covered his wound. “I figured that would get a smile out of you. And also this.” She pulled out a blue lollipop. “That’s for being such a good patient.”

  
“Wow, I like it here.”

  
“Of course, it’s because you got the coolest doctor. Stay put for a second while I talk to your Dad.”

  
She motioned to Wash to meet her in the other side of the room. Wash was nervous. “So how is he?”

  
“It’s nothing serious, he has a mild concussion. We have to take it seriously, but he’ll be a lot better by tomorrow. His cut on the head is superficial, a little antibiotic and keep it covered, it’ll heal fast.”

  
“Well then he’s okay?”

  
“I am concerned that he hasn’t eaten or drank much in the last few days. For a child his age it doesn’t take much for dehydration to set in. I really don’t want to insert a feeding tube, so tonight see if you can get him to eat and drink some water.”

  
Wash nodded. “Sure, I’ll make sure of it as soon as we get home tonight.”

  
“No Wash, he has to stay here overnight for observation. Even a mild concussion is a big deal for a three year old. I don’t want him being moved around any more than necessary.”

  
“Then I’m staying with him. There’s no way I’m leaving him alone now.”

  
“That’ll be okay. I will have to say no to having Tucker and Chloe though.”

  
“Why? They both want to spend time with him.”

  
“He can’t have too much stimulation. He still has a bad headache and dizziness. The only treatment is rest. I’ll see how he feels in the morning.”

  
“Tucker was coming back here after transporting Kenan to jail. How am I supposed to tell him he can’t see his son?”

  
“He can have five minutes if he’s quiet, and I doubt that he can be. He can come back tomorrow morning. I’m sure David will be feeling better by then.”

  
“Okay, that’s better than nothing. I’ll give him a heads up.” He finally remembered Megan. “What about the girl, what’s going to happen to her?”

  
“Don’t worry, she’s fine. I have an apartment in the upper floor of this hospital. There’s not much room, but she can crash there until she finds somewhere more permanent. I’ll look out for her.”

  
“That’s very nice if you. Thank you. Thank you for everything. If it wasn’t for you, we never would have gotten David in the first place.”

  
She shrugged. “Just doing my job, trying to save one person at a time. I’ll fix David up a room so he’ll stay comfy. Go see how he’s doing.”

  
Wash walked over, David didn’t look good, he was awfully pale. “You feel okay honey?”

  
He shook his head and wanted Wash to hold him. “No, I don’t feel good, I wanna go to sleep.”

  
“Try to wait on that. I need to make sure you can sleep with a head injury.” He held David and stroked his hair until the Doctor got back. She took a good look at him.

  
“Nausea is common side effect of concussions, it will pass as quickly as it came. I got the room all fixed up, let’s try getting him to bed.”

  
“Will sleeping hurt him?”

  
“No, it’s quite the opposite. Rest will help his brain heal, his injury isn’t very severe. He can go to sleep whenever he wants.”

  
Wash laid him down in the bed. David tried to sit back up, but Wash made him lay back. “Daddy, I want my stuffed elephant.”

  
“I’ll have your Dad bring it by when he comes. I’ll have him pick up all your stuff while he’s at it. Then everything will be ready for when you come home.”

  
“Good, I miss home, I miss Chloe.”

  
“You can see her tomorrow. You need to rest so you can leave tomorrow.”

  
Tucker came flouncing in and almost knocked over the nightstand. What a way for David to rest. “Sorry dudes, I didn’t mean to do that.”

  
Wash rolled his eyes. “Way to help him relax.” David was laughing.

  
“See, it worked.” Tucker went over to hug David. “Hey, little dude. Feeling better?”

  
“Almost, I missed you Daddy.”

  
“I missed you too buddy. I got your elephant for you, and here’s an early birthday present for ya.” He handed David a football.

  
“Wow, is that a real football?”

  
“Yep, I promised you I’d teach you. As soon as you feel better, it’s just me and you buddy.”

  
David looked so happy. After two days of torture, his real parents saved him. Wash hated to end the family bonding time.

  
“David, it’s getting late. You need to rest so you can go home tomorrow.” He turned to Tucker. “Don’t forget we’re going to sign all of David’s adoption papers first thing in the morning.”

  
Tucker nodded. “I’ll be here early.” He bent down to kiss David on the forehead. “Sleep tight little dude.”

  
Wash got David to eat some fruit and drink a little bit of water before bed. It wasn’t much, but at least David was trying to eat again. He tucked him with his elephant.

  
“Daddy, I want my football too.”

  
Wash just looked at him. “You can’t sleep with a football. I’ll set on the chair over here for safe keeping.”

  
David pouted. “But Daddy gave it to me, I want with me too.” His usual spunk was returning. Wash was relieved, at least he wasn’t traumatized that badly.

  
He sighed deeply and figured he’d give in. “Fine, here you go.” David grabbed onto it with both arms. “You happy now?”

  
He shook his head. “No, I wanna hug too.” He held out his arms to Wash. He couldn’t resist, he reached down to give David a big hug. “Now I’m happy.”

  
Wash chuckled. “Good, go to sleep.”

  
Wash held his hand and stroked his hair until he feel fast asleep. Wash leaned back his chair. Thank god this nightmare was over. Wash could now rest easily knowing his son safe.

  
He kept hold of David’s hand all night. He never wanted to let his little boy go.  
  
  



	15. Chapter 15

 

David woke up all alone, he was back in the evil clown room. He looked for his Dad, he was nowhere in the room. There was movement behind him. David was too afraid to look behind him.

  
One of the clown dolls came to life. It’s laugh was maniacal, it mocked David’s fear. He cried out in terror. He wanted out of that room, he wanted his dad.

  
The clown turned from a doll into Kenan. “I’m coming for you David. I said you were going to get punished.” He chuckled at the look of terror on David’s face. That’s what he wanted to see.

  
David tried to open the door, but it was locked, he couldn’t get away. He screamed as loud as he could, he wanted his Dad to come rescue him again.

  
“Daddy, help me!”

  
From the distance, he heard a voice calling to him. “David, Calm down. Stop it, you’re alright.” He felt a pair of hands grab him, he tried to fight them off. They had him pinned down.

  
He screamed again. “Daddy, save me, I’m scared!”

  
“David, I’m right here, you’re dreaming, open your eyes. Take it easy, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

  
David forced his eyes to open, he was so afraid of what he’d find. Wash was leaning over him, his bright blue eyes looked down at his son with concern. His hands had David’s arms pinned to his side. “Daddy?” He could hardly talk.

  
“Yes.” Wash was relieved his nightmare was over. He let David’s arms loose as he felt his own pulse come back to normal. “Are you Okay, that sounded like some bad dream.”

  
David has been crying in the dream, he was still sniffling. “Yeah, Daddy I couldn’t find you. I was with the evil clowns and one turned into my mean Dad. He was coming to get me. I couldn’t find you!”

  
“Shh, it’s okay honey. I’m right here, I will never leave you. You’re safe, no one’s going to hurt you anymore.”

  
David believed him. He held out his arms. “Daddy, lay with me until I fall asleep.” He gave Wash such a pleading look, he couldn’t say no.

  
“Alright, let me figure this out.” There was barely any room, but Wash managed to lay beside him and held him in his arms. “You’re all safe now, go back to sleep.”

 

 

When David woke up, Wash was gone. But his Uncle Simmons was sitting in the chair beside his bed, reading a book. He looked up when David stirred.

  
“Morning David. I missed you so much kiddo.”

  
David gave him a big smile. “Hi Uncle Simmons. Where’s my Daddy?”

  
“He and your Dad went down to sign all of your adoption papers. Then you’ll officially be their son again.”

  
David liked that. “So I’m all ‘fficiall again?”

  
Simmons laughed at how he said it. “Yeah, something like that.”

  
Tucker loudly flounced through the door. He was proudly waving a typed document. Wash followed behind him shaking his head over what a goof his husband was acting like.

  
He showed the papers to David. “Here’s your adoption papers, little dude. It is certified that you are, once again, David Lavernius Tucker. This time, it’s for real. Ha, now you’re stuck with us.”

  
He had David laughing. “Yay!”

  
“Are you sure everything is signed this time?” Simmons was getting up from his chair.

  
Wash sighed. “Yes, we went over those forms about a dozen times. Everything is signed.”

  
“Daddy, I wanna go home and see Chloe.” David was getting restless. It would be impossible to keep him resting much longer.

  
Wash frowned a little. “We have to check with Dr. Grey first, but you look much better. I’m sure she’ll let you.”

  
“That’s for Dr. Grey to decide.” She came out of nowhere and startled them all. “Wash and Tucker, between the two of you, can you keep your son under control?”

  
“Ugh, do you know how hyper this kid is?” Tucker looked at her like she was nuts.

  
But Wash nodded. “Yes, I think I can make him settle down.”

  
She turned to David. “Okay, I’ll let you go kiddo, but you got a few rules.” She looked very serious at David. “Keep it easy during playtime, you be nice to your Dads, and you owe me a piece of birthday cake. You got all that?”

  
David nodded. “Yep, you can come to my party.”

  
“Aww, alrightee then. I’ll let you go home.”

 

 

“Damnit Donut, get those stupid balloons out of my face.”

  
“Aww c’mon Grif, Where’s your party spirit?”

  
“It’s lost forever since I got stuck making Thanksgiving dinner for you losers.”

  
Simmons got into the argument. “It’s your own fault, you were the one who wanted a turducken. I have no idea how to make that.”

  
“Let me help you.” Donut grabbed at the roasting pan in Grif’s hands and it almost fell to the floor.

  
“Donut, get out. Go decorate the dining room or something.”

  
Wash came in frowning. “Donut, why are you decorating today? David’s  party isn’t until Saturday.”

  
“Have a heart Wash, every kid deserves some balloons and streamers on their birthday.” Donut sounded so offended.

  
“Oh fine, why try to fight it.” He turned to Grif and Simmons. “Tucker was getting the kids together to play football if you want to watch.”

  
“I’m stuck slaving over dinner.”

  
Simmons rolled his eyes over Grif’s attitude. “I have to keep an eye on Grif’s cooking. I can’t trust him alone with the oven. I may have to stand by with the fire extinguisher.”

  
“Very funny…you know, the turducken is in the oven. All you have to do is keep an eye on it. I’ll go out and help Tucker watch the kids.” He gave Simmons a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks honey, you’re the best.”

  
Poor Simmons just stood and watched him bolt for the door. “Sometimes I really hate him.”

  
Wash chuckled over Grif’s ability to get out of work. “Never mind, I’ll help you with dinner.”

  
“So everything turned out okay with David?”

  
“Yes finally. His concussion is healing, he gets bad headaches once in a while. He had a visitation with his mother, they’re friends now. She’s coming to his birthday party.”

  
“Oh that’s nice. At least you don’t have to be threatened of her taking your son.”

  
Wash honestly answered. “No, I’m not. David and I have a special bond, it won’t ever go away.”

  
They were interrupted. “Daddy Daddy, I got hurt.” David went running to Wash. His knee was scraped and bleeding.

  
“Ugh, you need to quit getting hurt.”

  
“But I got a touchdown and I wanna finish the game.”

  
“That’s great, but I got to fix up your knee.”

  
“There’s a first aid kit in the bathroom, help yourself.” Simmons was trying not to ruin the gravy.

  
Wash cleaned off the scrape. “Ouch, that hurts.”

  
“Sorry, but you need it.” He put a big bandaid over it. “There you’re all done, go score another touchdown for me.”

  
“I will just for you Daddy.” He gave Wash a big hug and ran off to rejoin his game.

  
Wash knew they would always be close. No one would ever take that away from him.

  
  



End file.
